Beckett Park

More snow.......Here's how it looked on the way in to work this morning near the Queenswood Drive entrance to Beckett Park.

Fieldfare there in Park Square

Yesterday, from an office overlooking Park Square in the centre of Leeds, a flock of approximately 20 Fieldfare settled in the trees. Andrea managed to get some shots at a distance. In the first shot you can see its distinctive grey head & spotted underthroat & chest.

Beckett Park woodland stroll

At lunchtime I took a circuitous stroll through Beckett Park woodland past the Victorian Monument to follow the track left and down through the wood. The shaded area was chilly, silent & still. The path curved round and the woodland brightened & became marginally warmer & the woodland floor began to peep through the snow and ice. Here appeared a veritable cornucopia of birdy delights... Seven Long Tail Tits danced around on overhead branches and they were accompanied by two Nuthatch scratching away at tree trunks. A noisy Jay perched high above & I spotted two more nearby. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into view, metres away from where we'd seen it a few weeks ago, its bold markings standing out in the sunlight. Suddenly a couple of metres ahead of me 6 Redwing flew through the wood in succession, their red flanks & underwings clearly visible. In turn they scattered a handful of Blackbirds feeding in the thawing undergrowth. A few steps ahead Blue Tits, Robin & Wrens were all making the most of newly bare earth. One of those occasions where I wish I'd taken my camera...

Beckett Park woodland

If I give myself a few extra minutes on a morning I can fit in a quick wander around Beckett Park woodland before getting into work. On the south-eastward facing edge of the woodland the sun had just started to stream through the trees

Weardley New Year's Day sightings

On New Year's Day, mid afternoon we drove out to Weardley, near Harewood. With the temperature a chilly 2 degrees & getting colder, the pathways were still icy & as a result we didn't wander far but still managed a few good sightings.

The Red Kites we're around in decent numbers & today we counted ten just in this area. This Red Kite was perched on a treetop surveying the area. Its tagged bird, the tag looks orange which I think means the bird was released in 2005.

In the nearby field a flock of sheep were getting stuck into mini-mountains of mangelwurzel & the field attracted a number of birds. Lapwing, Fieldfare, Jackdaws, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird, Great Tit and Robin hopped through the hedgerow. We noticed a flock of about 10 smaller birds feeding on the ground, I'm struggling to identify them so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ive included this pic to give an idea of scale, two birds are just about visible to the left of the rear leg of the sheep.

A female Kestrel settled on a nearby telegraph pole.

On joining the Ebor Way footpath we realised that what we'd initially assumed to be one of the many Red Kites lacked the forked tail & had a far heavier appearance & it turned out to be a Buzzard, I didn't manage a pic but it was a good reminder to pay attention.